Bethsabée et Elio (ENG version)

Chapter III

III

Bethsabée found herself in yet another mundane Thursday morning, enduring her religion class from 10 a.m. to noon. This was always a challenging ordeal for her due to her lack of affinity with matters of spirituality. She had never been able to conceive the idea that a force had created the world from scratch and that this power would supposedly grant us access to paradise in exchange for our faith. What's worse, things hadn't improved over time. As she grew older, her teachers began to introduce philosophy, a new and seemingly senseless notion to her. What was the point of pondering death when life was still present? Bethsabée couldn't recall ever reflecting on life before even being born. So why question death before even being confronted by it ?

Too pragmatic to be interested in her teacher's words, she observed the classroom instead. Painted in white, brightly lit, it had all the hallmarks of a modern classroom. Twelve wooden desks were arranged facing a large blackboard, currently concealed behind a white projection screen. The room was impeccably clean, much like the rest of the building, and no noise could be heard except for the video they were watching on Emmanuel Kant's moral philosophy.

Ten minutes later, the class finally ended, and Bethsabée was now free from any unnecessary ponderings for a good week. She packed her things and headed out into the corridors, where she met her friend, who, as always, had a smile on her face. They descended the stairs together to go to the cafeteria and enjoy a good meal. However, Bethsabée took a detour alone to her locker to retrieve her Biology book.

When she opened it, she was even more surprised than last time. A new letter had been placed on her stack of books. Bethsabée wondered what she was going to do with all these poems and, most importantly, what was the author's intention? For a moment, she hesitated to talk to her friends, who hadn't been of much help last time. Ultimately, she decided to lock herself in the bathroom to take a quick look alone at first. Upon examining the envelope more closely, she saw a capital B written in India ink. The author had used a round-tipped pen, reminiscent of old-school schoolchildren, and had taken great care with the writing. Now certain that the letter was addressed to her, she would be able to prove to her father that he was wrong to believe that it was not meant for her. Curious, she opened the envelope and was even more astonished than the previous time when she pulled out two small pieces of paper. Indeed, the author was a person more than surprising! Only a series of numbers, a date, and a name were written on it, without any explanation. Perplexed and a little destabilized, Bethsabée left the bathroom and went to join her friends in the cafeteria.

Once at the table, one of her friends noticed that something was wrong. She looked at Bethsabée with questioning eyes, and after a long sigh, Bethsabée detailed everything that had just happened, from opening her locker to going to the bathroom. The smallest of the two got up, jumped for joy, and asked, with her English accent, almost shouting, if she could take a look. So, Bethsabée handed her the two pieces of paper, and almost instantly, she saw her face fall. It was so rare that her other friend, who had put down her phone upon seeing the scene, grabbed the papers the Australian was holding in her hand. She immediately understood why her smile had disappeared so quickly and reacted, despite herself, in a strangely similar way. Both were now as lost and astonished as Bethsabée. Nevertheless, the desire to understand took precedence. Thus, despite the complexity of the task that awaited them, the three girls bravely plunged into deciphering these numbers.

After a good half-hour of reflection, the three accomplices had barely touched their meal, and the numbers remained just as incomprehensible. Discouraged, they looked at each other and decided to leave it there for now. With their brains out of order and their minds in turmoil, Bethsabée went back upstairs to attend the last classes of her day.